Blank-feeding mechanism.



useful Improvements Mechanism,

adjustment of the BEST AVAILABLE COP EDWARD W. CONRADI, 0F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

' BLANK-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. it), 3918.

Application filed February 25, 1914. Serial No. 820,882.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. EDWARD W. CONRADI, a citizen of the United Seattlqtin the county of King and State of lVashington, have invented certain new and in Blank Feeding of which the following is a specification. [y invention relates to-improvements in machines for forming can-bodies and particularly to improvements in the type of machine shown and described in my Patent No. 1,129,456.

The object of the invention is the provision of a machine which will be readily adjustable in transverse directions to accommodate various lengths of can-body blanks, and particularly to provide for the lateral vertical walls of the siderails of the machine and of the side-walls of the hopper coincidentally at one operation.

Another object of the invention is the provision of laterally adjustable support- 111g members for the pile of can-blanks whereby the space between said members may be suitably proportioned in accordance with the distance between the sidewalls of the hopper and the length of the can-blanks; and to predeterminately provide for the desired amount of, sagging 'or deflection from the normal horizontal plane of the blanks.

A still further-object of the invention is l t e provision of adjustably inclined side ties of the blanks at -wherebythe lowermost blanks are more or upon line 22 of Fig. '1.

walls adapted to engage the latera extremithe bottom Oisllld pile less bowed and separated and may be singly removed by the operative devices provided therefor. Other objects of the invention will be apparent in the further description of the invention.

The invention consists in the novel construction, adaptation and combination of parts of a can-body forming machine, which is fully described in the following specification, such parts thereof as are necessary to the understanding of my invention being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and finally set forth in the appended claims.

'In said drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the feed-endportion of a can-body forming machine embodying my invention. F ig. 2 is an enlarged vertical, longitudinal, sectional View of a portion hereof taken Fig. 15 is a vertical States, residing at as also described in my transverse sectional view taken upon line 33 of Fig. 1, a plurality of sheets being illustrated in side elevation-within the hopper. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detached perspective views of details of the invention.

Referring to said views, the reference numeral 5 indicates the framework of a canbody forming machine supported upon legs (2 and'provided with bed-plate 7 rigidly mounted in vertical alinenient with the i011- gitudinal axis of said frame. Horizontal side-rails 8 and 8 upon opposite sides of said bed-plate are formed with vertically disposed flanges 9 and 9 respectively, affording guides for the movements of the blanks upon said bed-plate, and upon which the various can-body forming devices, not shown. for working upon the blanks as they successively advance thereto, aremounted. Said side-plates are adjustable in lateral directions to and away fromeach other and said bed plate to acconunodate various lengths of can-blanks. Adjustment of said side-plates may be made by means of feed screw 10 having oppositely disposed screwthreads upon itsopposite ends engageable in threaded nuts 11 and 11- dependent upon the respective side-plates.

Said feed-screw is rotatably mounted in a fixedportion of the frame, as at 12, and is manipulated through hand-wheel 13. Said side-rails may obviously be adjusted individually but the method described is preferable, as said elements are thus at all times disposed symmetrically with relation to said bed-plate.

Said rails are formed with longitudinal" parallel grooves 15 in which the reciprocatmo feedbars 16 are slidabhy mounted and actuated as hereinafter fully set forth and said patent.

Feed members 17 v are adjustably mounted by set screws 17 upon said feed-bars for movement laterally thereof whereby the projections 18 are disposed more or less toward the median line betweensaid feed-bars in position to engage the rear edges of the blanks.

At the feed end' of the is provided having side-Walls consisti of continuations of the side flanges" 9 an 3 and which are adjustable laterally therewith. Front walls of said hopper are formed by angle-plates i9 and 19 adjustably semachine a hopper cured by set bolts 18 to the respective side.

not

widths of blanks. A crossrpiece so is uaably secured to said angle-plates to allow of transverse movement of the latter wit-h the side-rails 8, 8 to which is medially secured the armv21 adjustable vertically thereto to extend downwardly to the. bottom of the pileof blanks B wherefrom the lowermost lank to be removed from the pile must be deflected downwardly, as will presently bedescribed, in order to be fed from the hopper. I v o he rear walls 22 for said hopper are also adjustable at 23 longitudinally of the machineto insure that the suction device 25 will actuate the said feed bars 16 through a disk crank 45 operatively connected to a cross head 46 of the feed bars by nieans of a connecting rod 47. At each revolution of said crank disk, the said suction member 25 is elevated during the contact of a pin 48 projecting from the said disk with an integral lug 49 upon and partially surrounding the said suction member 25, the reverse descending stroke of said member 25 being accomplished through the force of gravity. The air pump 26 is. likewise operatively connected to a crank5O of the shaft 42 and is arranged add to have its suction stroke wliereby the air is partially exhausted in, its cylinder, and in the bore 43 just before the member-2 5 reaches the culmination of its upstroke, and during the major portion of its downstroke, and thus'being so timed that the suction will occur in said device as it contacts with the lowermost of the pile of blanks contained in said hopper.

Plates 27 for supporting said pile of blanks are mounted upon the respective side rails within the hopper and are provided with slots 28 wherein they may be adjusted transversely of the hopper by bolts 30. Said plates are each provided at their inner'ex- .tremity with a ledge .3l for supporting the blanks at points s acedinwardly fr their side edges, where y the .pile of blanks as -a whole-may be maintained in relatively horizontalcondition. 1 c I Secured to said opposite side-walls of th" hop 1' in proximity of their u per ends as by t P olts 32, are end-supportmgclips 33 fdrlned of a resilient metal sheet slotted at for adjustment vertically by'said bolts, and with an interiorly protrudinglateral flange 35 at its lower and adapted to en age Yup'onthe underside of thelowermost o the pile, of'blanksgpj ltn adwstment screw 3 ,115-

- lower en v t c AHABLE 1,278,438

mounted in the respective side-walls adapted to im inge upon the'out'r-s-ide' of the laterally'inward; in an inclined direction toward said median line of the machine. The ofiice of said clips is to prevent the undue of said clip and "spring the same 7 bowing upwardof the middle portion-of the pile of blanks under the influence of the up- ,weight of the pile of blanks being partially ward stroke ofsaid. suction device by the I or wholly transferred from said ledges 31 to said flanges 35 according to the amount of vertical movement upwardly of the middle of said pile. The inclined relation of the clipscauses the lower blanks in the pile to be more or less buckled downwardly their middle portion and to become individually separated under the weight of the blanks thereabove whereby; the suction device may readily displace the lowermost blank at each of its downward reciprocative movements into theplane of engagement of said tions 18, as will be readily understoo Having 0l8ZlII1,iS--

1. In a machine'of the class described, a hopper comprising means for supporting a stack of sheets of metal at the end portions of the sheets, said sheets being unsupported between their end portions, said hopper having inclined side parts, against which the ends of the sheets are adapted to contact as the-sheets move downwardl in the hopper. 2. In a machine of the c ass described, a hopper comprising means for supporting a stack of sheets of metal atthe end portions of the sheets, said sheets being unsupported described my invention, what I between their end portions, and hopper hav-,

ing inclined side parts, against which the ends of the sheets are ada ted to contact as the sheets move downwar ly in the hopper and means for adjusting theinclination 9' j saidinclined side parts.

3. In a machine of the hopper for holding a'pile of sheets, means within the hopper. for supporting the-sheets class described, a.

at points spaced inwardly ofitheside ends of the sheets, andjyertically adjustable. and,

supplementary means at the sides of said V hopperfor supporting the side ends ioflgnid' t 4. In .a machiiieor the class i 'orted of the sheets, said sheets being uns hopper homprising'means for supporting a stack of sheets of metal at the end fimons between their end portions, said hopper having inclined side parts, against/ which the ends of the sheets are ada ted to contact as the sheets move downwar ly in. the hopper, means adapted to bend downwardly the middle portion of the sheet, and means adapted to engage the downwardly bent portion of;

the sheet and feed the sheet from the hopper. 5. In a machine of the class described, a

-.her t.e mpri g mews qasi p stack ofsheets of metal at the end portions of the sheets, said sheets being unsupported between their end portions, said hopper having 'inclinedside parts, against which the ends of'the sheets are adapted to contact as the sheets move downwardly in the hopper,

suction means adapted to bend downwardly the middle portion of the sheet and means adapted to engage the downwardly bent portion of'the sheet and feed the sheet from Ethe hopper.

6. Ama chine of' the character described,

comprising a hopper, means for supporting the sheets at the end portions thereof, said sheets being unsupported between their end portions, means for forcing the lower sheets v inward from their edges to bow and partially separate the sheets, and means for separating the lowermost sheet from the hopper.

Signed at Seattle, Wash., this 13th day of February, 1914. 

